President Moon Jae-in replaced Kim Sang-jo, his top Cheong Wa Dae aide on policy, Monday, Moon's office announced amid a controversy over the leasing of his apartment in southern Seoul. Moon promoted Lee Ho-seung, senior secretary for economic affairs, to the post of handling policy at the presidential office, according to You Young-min, presidential chief of staff. Moon's decision came "in consideration of the very grave situation connected with real estate," a senior Cheong Wa Dae

The approval rating for the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP) has topped 40 percent in Seoul, expanding its lead over the liberal ruling Democratic Party (DP) in the runup to next week's Seoul mayoral by-election, an opinion poll showed Monday. According to the Realmeter survey conducted on 2,516 voters nationwide from last Monday through Friday, the approval rating for the PPP came to 41.2 percent, up 2.3 percentage points from a week ago. This marks the first approval rat

The government and the ruling party decided to push for new legislation obligating all public officials to declare their assets, a lawmaker said Sunday, amid a public uproar over a land speculation scandal involving employees of the state housing developer. Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon, acting chairman of the ruling Democratic Party, also said after a meeting with officials of the government and the presidential office that the government will make sure to confiscate all illegal gains made from real esta

South Korea's ruling party on Friday expressed "deep regret" over North Korea's recent back-to-back launches of short-range missiles, calling on the country to come back to the negotiating table. "(We) express deep regret over the North Korean provocations that took place as the US Biden administration is reviewing its North Korea policy," Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon, acting chairman of the Democratic Party (DP), said during a party meeting held in the southern port city of Busan.

President Moon Jae-in on Friday replaced eight vice minister-level officials, including those at the science and unification ministries, Cheong Wa Dae announced. Yong Hong-taek, the science ministry's director of research and development policy, was promoted to first vice science minister, and Cho Kyeong-sik, Cheong Wa Dae's secretary for digital innovation, was named second vice science minister. Choi Young-joon, the unification ministry's director for unification policy, was promoted to vice

Oh Se-hoon, the main opposition party's Seoul mayoral candidate, outpaced his liberal rival Park Young-sun by nearly 20 percentage points, according to the latest public opinion poll Thursday. According to the Realmeter survey conducted on 806 voters in Seoul on Wednesday, 55 percent of the respondents said they will vote for Oh of the People Power Party (PPP) in the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, while 36.5 percent chose Park of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) as their preferred candidat

The National Assembly on Thursday approved an extra budget worth nearly 15 trillion-won ($13.2 billion) to help prop up small merchants and the vulnerable hit hard by the yearlong COVID-19 pandemic. The bill's passage enables the country's fourth round of emergency relief assistance since the first case of the new coronavirus was confirmed in South Korea in January last year. The latest aid package, which will selectively benefit small business owners, the jobless and other vulnerable people,

About half of top officials at the central government and state-run institutions own land as part of their wealth, a government report showed Thursday, amid mounting public outrage over a land speculation scandal involving public officials. According to the annual government report showing the latest state of personal wealth of 759 high-ranking officials at the central government and state-run institutions, 51.1 percent, or 388, possessed land as part of their wealth. Some of them owned land i

Two weeks before the April 7 by-election to choose Seoul’s next mayor, Oh Se-hoon, a former mayor and the sole candidate from the opposition bloc, is far ahead of Park Young-sun, former minister of SMEs and startups and the sole candidate from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, a poll showed Wednesday. According to a Realmeter survey of 1,042 Seoulites aged 18 or older on March 22 and 23, Oh gained 48.9 percent support and Park stood at 29.2 percent support of respondents in the two-w

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Wednesday urged health authorities to remain guarded against potential new coronavirus outbreaks as to allow safe proceedings of the upcoming April by-elections. Citizens of Seoul and Busan, the nation's second-largest city in the southeast, will hit voting booths on April 7 to pick their new mayors in their respective by-elections. Nineteen other seats, mostly of local governments and councils, scattered across the country will also be up for grabs. The mayora

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook received their first doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, in preparation to visit the United Kingdom for a Group of Seven summit in June. 　 Moon, 68, was administered the shot in his left arm at the Jongno-gu public health center near the presidential office, along with first lady Kim and nine Cheong Wa Dae aides, including national security adviser Suh Hoon, who are accompanying them to Britain in June. 　 Korea

President Moon Jae-in received his first dose of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, as he plans to attend a Group of Seven (G-7) summit to be held in Britain. He received the shot at the Jongno Ward public health center near the presidential compound in Seoul, along with first lady Kim Jung-sook and nine Cheong Wa Dae officials who will accompany them on a trip to Britain in June. The G-7 session is scheduled to take place in the seaside resort of Carbis Bay in Cornwall from June 11-13. M

Ex-Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon beat software mogul-turned-politician Ahn Cheol-soo on Tuesday to become the single opposition candidate for the upcoming Seoul mayoral by-election, as opinion polls project a possible election victory for the opposition bloc. Oh, who is running on the ticket of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), was declared the winner of a bipartisan primary against Ahn, the leader of the conservative minor People's Party (PP), according to the primary results. The victor

Justice Minister Park Beom-kye on Monday expressed dismay over senior prosecutors' decision to close the alleged perjury case involving former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook, exposing a rift that has lingered for years between the ministry and the prosecution. While accepting the outcome, Park criticized the decision as tantamount to "protecting their own family." He said it is "questionable" if the meeting of prosecutors held to review the case properly reflected the int

President Moon Jae-in reassured the people here Monday that the AstraZeneca vaccine in use against COVID-19 is safe, saying he will get a dose of it in person this week. He stressed that the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine "have been reaffirmed internationally." Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially recommended that AstraZeneca vaccine shots continue. It is considered "at this time" that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh its risks,